Impact of pressure pumping ratio and location of air curtain generator on the dust resistance effect in fully mechanized workface

In order to understand the influence law of pressure pumping ratio β and the distance between air curtain generator and workface Lw on the air curtain dust resistance effect,the transport conditions of air and dust flow field under different β and Lw coupling conditions were simulated by Fluent. The results show that the radial vortex air cur- tain turns to axial dust resistance air curtain gradually as β become smaller and Lw become larger. The bigger the β is and the larger the Lw is,the worse the dust resistance effect of radial vortex air curtain is and the larger the dust diffu- sion distance Ld become. The smaller the β is and the larger the Lw is,the steadier the axial dust resistance air curtain is,the smaller the Ld become,the dust resistance ability of axial dust resistance air curtain is better than that of radial vortex air curtain. According to the simulation results and actual production,the best ventilation parameter settings for air curtain dust resistance are as β = 0. 75 and Lw = 20 m. These parameters are applied in the belt roadway of east 5th mining area of Huipodi Coal Mine. The relative errors of speed direction and magnitude between measured data and simulation results are small. It means that the simulation results are accurate. The axial dust resistance air curtain whose thickness is 3 m was formed in the workface,a high concentration dust could be controlled within the range in front of heading machine driver’s section about 6 m from the workface,the dust resistance effect is obvious.